Viper Ace

Took a poll from my model club (22 people) here are the results: F-14 TOMCAT - Hasegawa is over engineered and a bear to build, would be great to have a nice Tomcat, easy assembly and Kinetic could make a series out of it and release variants. Tornado - I think we are way over due for some nice Tornado's in 1/48 scale and again Kinetic can run a great series with all variants. A-6 Intruder - can't believe another company other than Monogram has never done this kit in 1/48, would be a huge seller. SU-24/25, MIG 29 in 1/48 scale.

Using Model Master enamels what would be a good color for the cockpit?

I know this kit is around 15+ years old but I am looking for feedback on how this kit is overall? Anyone know of any online build reviews I can refer to?

On Cybermodeler under what's new they are showing new Trumpeter releases for August 2009. This kit is showed as being released in August kit #2271 SRP $209.95.

Would be interested to see pictures of the inside of the intakes and exhaust as I would like to know how you masked the inside of the intakes for the demarcation of the grey and white? I have this kit and have not figured out how to do this correctly? Also would like to know how you painted up the inside of the exhaust?

Raymond will correct me if I am wrong but my clear understanding is only the Polish +52 and Sufa kits have the reworked corrections in them.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think attaching the lower half of the wings to the fuselage body first is a great idea. I think maybe adding the LERX to the upper fuselage wings before attaching that assembly to the lower might work also. I think I am also going to try gluing each nose half to the cockpit tub halves before inserting cockpit and joining together. I have a old Air Fan magzine on the AV-8B+ showing loaded with AIM-120's next to the AIM-9L's, but in the close up picture this is a small pylon between the under wing pylon and the AIM-120 rail, does anyone know where I can get th

I have a 2 part question: 1. How many different versions of the Harrier did Hasegawa release in 1/48 scale? 2. I heard there is an article that someone did on the net for putting this kit together with very few gaps to fill, advised not to follow the kit instruction steps for the fuselage and wings, etc. Does anyone know where I can locate this article? I have searched and searched but fail to locate it. Thanks.

Looking for instructions on how to make home made modern jet ejector seat harness and lap belts. I don't want to spend money on resin seats or PE belts. I am currently working on a F-16C, AV-8B and a F/A-18F 1/48 scale and hoping someone can provide me with tips on how to make belts. I have heard of people using Tamiya Tape or Tin Foil for the belts but what can be used for the buckles? I would assume I need a good picture of the seat from the internet and then try to cut tape to shape and size of the belts and fit to kit seat?

I don't have the Sufa kit yet but I do have the DG/DJ and there is a gap between the cockpit side and side walls, I also noticed when the cockpit is installed there is a gap between the top of the instrument panels and the top of the hud.

Well I sure hope we don't have to wait until 2012 for them to release these kits.

Cybermodeler shows Hobby Boss is going to release 4 Tomcats in 1/48th (2 A's, a B and a D model). These all show 2009 releases but we all know this may or may not happen this year. My question to all is do you think these kits will be a copy of Academy or Hasegawa molds or brand new molds? I don't have the time or the patience for the Hasegawa Tomcat so I am really looking forward to a new F-14 that is more easy to assemble and hopefully accurate enough. The bonus with Hobby Boss is usually you get lots of weapons and pods, so these kits may due very well once they finally hit the stores.

There has been some discussion around this kit and some sneak peaks into the test shots that all write ups advise that while people will probably hope for a F-14B or D model that this will be a F-14A model. I am a bit confused as on Cybermodel future kit release listing Trumpeter has this kit listed as an F-14D kit #3203 and no other Tomcat versions listed for release in this scale. Another sneak peak I saw from some model toy show (can't remember what it was) showed the 1/32 F-18E/F kits Trump is releasing and beside this test shot mock up was the 1/32 F-14D box art. So I am a bit confus

I am going to try this on my Kinetic F-16C IDF Block 40.

I am trying to understand why people are so pumped up on this kit? I can undersand if you are into Aggressor/Adversary F-16 schemes but otherwise. I have heard others state you can build a Block 30 up to a Block 52 from this kit, maybe from an airframe perspective but unless you want to build the Aggressor or Adversary aircraft I just don't see the big deal. Yes it is nice to get both huds/exhaust/intakes in one box but no LIGHTNING Pod, GBU's, AGM-88's or AN/AAQ-13 or 14. So as far as I can see you still have to add the cost of weapons, pods, decals, weapon decals to this kit. This may n